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Archbishop Burke to take canon-law job in Rome
(by Tim Woodcock - July 02, 2008)
Archbishop Raymond Burke will leave St. Louis at the end of August to accept an appointment in Rome. He will work at the body responsible for interpreting church law known as the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. Burke has been a member of the body since 2006.
Burke replaced Justin Rigali, who is now the archbishop of Philadelphia, in 2004 and during his relatively short time in St. Louis quickly became a polarizing figure, often causing controversy with his strict adherence to traditional Catholic teachings.
Perhaps the most notable example was in the first few months of his tenure when he said he would deny communion to John Kerry because of Kerry’s position on abortion rights. At the time, Kerry was campaigning as the Democrats’ presidential contender. The debate sparked by Burke’s comments drew international attention.
A similary intense and more local controversy occurred in 2005 when Burke was involved in the escalation of an ongoing row between the archdiocese and the north city church of St. Stanislaus Kostka. Burke excom-municated members of the board of directors who control the church property because the St. Stanislaus organizational structure deviates from normal church governance. The process of trying to make the parish conform to church norms had begun under Rigali’s watch, but Burke’s handling of the affair was seen by some as particularly ham-fisted.
Burke has long been seen as a rising star within the world of church law. From 1985 to 1994 he was a visiting professor of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. From 1995 to 2004 he served as the bishop of La Crosse in Wisconsin, the town in which he attended seminary.
In St. Louis, Burke has been credited with enriching life at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary and being a father figure to those training to become priests there.
As soon as the Vatican made the announcement June 27, Burke’s authority as archbishop was suspended. Bishop Robert J. Hermann has been selected to serve as archdiocesan administrator until the pope names a new archbishop of St. Louis.
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